


Glasses & Braces

by Spectra22



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Adorkable, Alternate Events, Dib/Gretchen-centric, F/M, Fluff, Nerds in Love, Romantic Angst, Romantic Fluff, Safe For Work, School crush, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff, childhood crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:42:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22771183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spectra22/pseuds/Spectra22
Summary: Set during and directly after the episode 'Tak: the Hideous New Girl,' this pure bit 'o fluff recounts how the dorky, quiet girl and the resident class weirdo first got to know each other.  ONE SHOT, COMPLETE.
Relationships: Dib & Gretchen (Invader Zim), Dib/Gretchen (Invader Zim)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 18





	Glasses & Braces

February 14 th

She took a deep breath and looked in the mirror.

The plain, homely face that appeared there everyday stared back at her. Her hair was pulled up into its typical three pigtails, and the bright metal wires hugging her buckteeth seemed even more prominent than usual. She looked at the compact in her hand, wondering if she should even bother trying.

But then she thought of him. Imagined him sitting there at his desk, looking up at her. Saying “Thank you.” Maybe even complimenting her.

Setting her jaw in resolve, she fixed her eyes on her reflection as if to challenge it and raised the powder-puff to her cheek.

An hour or so later, she faced her reflection once more. This time she smiled at the girl looking back at her. Her skin looked smooth and soft, and a light pink blush kissed the apples of her cheeks. Her eyes were rimmed with the palest of violet eye shadows, her eyelashes were curled up prettily with clear mascara, and a slick, pinkish gloss put the finishing touch on her lips. Of course her huge braces were still there front and center, but if she tried really hard and didn’t look directly at them, she almost didn’t even notice them. Maybe, just maybe, no one else would either, for once.

She looked… okay. Better than okay. She looked _nice_ , or at least she hoped so. Maybe not pretty--she’d never used that particular word to describe herself--but she prayed that, just for today at least, the makeup would hide that fact. It was a _big_ day, after all.

Feeling pretty good, though still with a butterfly or two fluttering around in her stomach, she snapped up her backpack and went to the fridge, pulling out the secret package she’d been keeping in the freezer for the past week. Several times her mom and older sister had asked her about what was in it, but she would only blush and mutter, “It’s for skool.” She stuck it in her bag, pulled the zipper with her dolphin-shaped key-chain shut, and called out a hasty “Bye!” before rushing out the door.

As she ran, the butterflies seemed to multiply exponentially, but at the same time she almost felt like she was running on air. _I’m gonna do it! I’m really gonna do it!_ she thought to herself. _Today’_ _s the day_ _!_

_***_

It was around 3:30 pm when she shuffled through the front door. She tossed her bag on the couch, her books and papers spilling out everywhere. After a short hesitation she sighed, went back, and started piling them back in.

Today hadn’t gone exactly as she’d planned. It hadn’t been _terrible,_ exactly, and she’d even gotten a few Valentines (one from Melvin and one from Keef), but it _had_ been disappointing.

“Hi, Honey!” Her mom waved to her just like she always did as she came into the kitchen. She was busy stirring a pot on the stove. “Anything happen at skool today?”

“Oh, not much,” she answered in a tired voice. “We got a new girl in our class.”

“Oh isn’t that nice! Well, go do your homework, dinner’s almost ready!” Her mom flashed her a ridiculously toothy smile before she made her way upstairs.

Flopping down on her bed, she let out a heavy, pent up sigh. _Well, at least I did it! I finally let him know that I like him_ . Non-verbally, _but still… He_ must _know how I feel now. I mean, he_ did _kind of look at me, didn’t he?_

_Okay, so he didn’t really respond, but, I mean, he was probably just like everyone else and distracted by that new girl. She_ did _arrive in a huge jet… it’s not like you see that everyday._ And _she gave everyone free wieners. That was pretty nice of her. But_ _still,_ _I gave him_ all _of my Valentine’s meat. I’m_ sure _he must have noticed. I’ll bet he just forgot to say thanks. I’m sure he’ll do it tomorrow. Yeah, tomorrow. I’m sure he will. I’m sure…_

February 15 th

When she slunk in through the front door the next day, her eyes were puffy and lined with red. Though she’d spent half the day trying to hide them, a few kids had noticed and naturally given her a hard time, adding to her already substantial misery. She dumped her book bag on the floor, not even glancing back when her papers scattered all across the carpeting.

“Hi, Honey! Anything happen at skool today?” her mom called in her teeth-grindingly cheery voice. The only thing she got in return was the sound of an upstairs door slamming.

She dove face-first into her pillow, burying her head in its softness. Fresh tears wet her pillowcase as she sniffled and sobbed and… okay, s _norted_ … out her frustration.

_I can’t believe it. How could he do that? How could he be so…_ _so_ mean! _I thought… I thought he was_ different! _He never said thank you. Never even looked at me. He was too busy looking at that_ new girl, _offering her a piece of_ _the_ _Valentine’s meat that_ I gave him! _What a total jerk! I can’t_ believe _I ever liked him! I can’t believe I ever thought… that he could like_ me.

A nasty little voice in her head replied: _But why_ would _he ever like you? You’re just plain and ugly, with those stupid, ugly braces and stupid buckteeth. You can’t really blame him for liking her more. She’s rich and pretty and you’re just… nothing._

She hugged her pink stuffed bunny close to her and curled her knees up to her chest. When her mom called her down to dinner an hour later, she didn’t even respond.

February 16 th

It was lunchtime. She stood in the doorway to the cafeteria, heart in her throat, palms sweaty eyes narrowed down to slits. There he was, just on the other side of the room. She gripped her lunch tray, her knuckles going white, silverware rattling ominously. Swallowing hard, she plucked up her courage and took a step forward. It was now or never.

***

“Oh man, it was _hilarious!_ You should’ve seen it, Gaz! It took Zim a whole hour to un-wedge himself from that trashcan! And what that barbecue sauce did to his skin? Well… let’s just say I hope he’s got a whole medicine cabinet full of whatever alien-type goo his species uses to treat burns with!”

Gaz growled low in her throat, pulling her GS2 closer to her face, focusing intently on the tiny flashing pixels darting about the screen. She’d beaten this particular game a hundred times before and was sick to death of it, but right now it was the only thing distracting her from the incessantly annoying words spewing from her brother’s mouth. She’d flashed him her most ‘sooooo-not-interested‘ face at least a dozen times, but he kept going on and on and on. “Would you be quiet, already? You’re spitting food on me.”

“Sorry, Gaz. It was just really neat.” Dib smiled and brought another spoonful of runny mashed potatoes and assorted meat chunks up to his mouth--a cafeteria specialty.

Gaz popped one squinted eye open and gave him a sideways glance. “You’ve been going on non-stop about that new girl for the past ten minutes.” A vindictive smirk curled her lips. “Is she your new girlfriend or something?”

Dib rolled his eyes. “Give me a break. It’s nothing like that. I mean, she’s okay, I guess. She seems nice, and smart, and she’s the only one who ever asked me about my paranormal studies before. Also, I think she might actually believe me about Zim being an alien! She asked me a ton of questions about him. Some oddly specific ones… but still, it’s about time _someone_ listened to me.” He took another bite of food, going on in a jaded tone, “Plus she doesn’t call me crazy and think I’m weird like everyone else around here does.”

“That’s cause she hasn’t gotten to know you yet.”

Dib opened his mouth, but before he could counter his sister’s dry witticism, a shadow fell over him. He barely had time to look up before he was suddenly drenched in a soup of mayo, corn, potatoes, peas, and chocolate milk. A lunch-tray clattered to the tile as he sat there in dumb shock, his hair and sleeves dripping with the sickening assortment of what passed for food in this skool. He looked up just in time to see a berry-haired girl with three small pigtails and an orange and pink striped dress stomping away. Beside him, Gaz was nearly choking to death she was laughing so hard.

“Now THAT girl I like!” she said, wiping away a tear of hilarity. “Maybe you should make HER your new girlfriend!” She burst out in hysterics once more while Dib continued to sit there, dumbfounded, frowning in the direction his attacker had disappeared.

“What was _that_ about?” he wondered, taking off his trench coat and wringing out the sleeves. A hunk of potatoes mixed with milk plopped to the floor.

“What do you mean, ‘What was that about’?” Gaz remarked, already lost in her game again. “You get wailed on everyday. What’s so weird about that?”

Dib wiped a thick smear of mayo off his glasses. “Yeah, that’s because all the kids around here are a bunch of closed-minded jerks. But that girl… I dunno, she just seemed… like she was _mad_ at me, or something.”

“You ever seen her before?”

“Yeah. She’s in my class. Her name is… something with a ‘G‘” Dib had to think for a second. “Gretchen, I think. But she’s never said a _word_ to me. And I’ve never talked to _her_. So why would she be mad at me?” He scratched his head, still pondering this mystery, several peas dropping from his hair and bouncing under the table.

February 23 rd

Dib climbed up on to the roof; the tiles felt rough and familiar beneath his boots, and a pleasant breeze blew through his hair on this unseasonably warm winter night. Making his way over to his usual spot and dropping his equipment, he settled in to gaze at the stars.

He sighed. It had been a looooong night.

His legs ached from all the running around he’d done inside Tak’s giant magma-pump thing, searching for the ON/OFF switch. Then there was all the running he’d done from Zim’s robot who had tried to eat his brains. “I was just kidding when I said that!” Dib had insisted, but the robot seemed determined to have the tasty treat his master had promised. He’d finally managed to distract the little robot with a shiny piece of tinfoil and get away, and now he just wanted some peace and quiet in his favorite place.

As he lay back and watched the tiny dots of light flicker to life against the velvety blue sky, he frowned.

An _alien_.

She was an alien all this time.

Not just an alien, but an _Irken_ , for crying out loud!

How? How in the _world_ could he have missed it? His whole life he’d thought less of people who were too dumb to see what was right in front of their eyes, had spent countless hours of frustration trying to drill the obvious into their thick heads, and now here he’d gone and demonstrated that very same ignorance. She’d had him completely fooled, and Zim--ZIM of all people!--had had to reveal the truth to him. He’d actually defended her, accused Zim of being jealous because she hated him despite all his best efforts to win her affection. Not that he ever put a lot of stock into what Zim said, normally, but this time he’d been right. She’d turned out to be nothing more than a lying, conniving, cold, manipulative female version of his arch nemesis. Just another stinking Irken monster who’d attempted to destroy his planet… and even worse, had almost succeeded.

And why?

Simple. She’d tricked him. Just like she’d tricked everyone. “How could I have been so completely _stupid?!_ She showed up to skool in a freaking _spaceship_ , for crying out loud! She said it was a jet, but c’mon, it was SO a spaceship! And with a phantom cat! And she did that weird, flashy, mind-control thing with her eyes! I’m supposed to be a freaking paranormal expert, here! How could I not have noticed?!” he demanded, slamming his fist down hard.

He had to give her credit, her disguise was a hundred times more convincing than Zim’s. And she’d never demonstrated his level of idiocy, like standing there and shouting to anyone within hearing distance about how “PERECTLY NORMAL!!” she was.

But that wasn’t the only reason.

He hated to admit it, but she’d played him. Expertly in fact, pretending to be interested in the things he had to say, pretending to believe him about Zim (though he guessed she hadn’t lied about _that_ ), all just so she could find out her enemy’s weaknesses. And he’d bought right into it, hook, line, and sinker. He’d even thought they could actually become friends. But he’d been nothing more to her than a mere stepping stone on her way to planetary conquest, and now he just hoped she was gone from his planet for good. Zim had reported back as much, said she’d used an escape pod to fire herself into deep space right before her ship was severely damaged. He had no idea where she was now.

He couldn’t say he really cared.

All he’d ever wanted his whole life was simply someone who’d listen to all the “weird,” crazy-sounding things he had to say, someone who’d believe him about all the paranormal phenomenon he‘d seen, someone who _didn’t_ think he belonged in a mental institution. And she’d preyed upon that deep, heartfelt desire, then betrayed him. It was hard not to hate her, maybe even more than he hated Zim. At least Zim hadn’t pretended to be his friend at any point during his stay on Earth, manipulating his emotions and playing him for an idiot. But then, he supposed, he wasn't really very surprised--it was the cold, heartless nature of the Irken species, after all, probably built into their genes--but he still couldn’t forgive her, especially for tricking him so easily.

And honestly, that was what bothered him the most about the whole thing, that for the first time, as far as he was concerned, he’d acted just as dumb and blind as everyone _else_.

Well, there _was_ an upside to all this, he supposed. If nothing else, this latest visitor from the outer reaches of space had piqued his interest even more in what else might be out there, beyond the veil of stars covering their small corner of the universe. Sitting up, he pulled a set of headphones over his ears and hooked them up to his laptop, then connected this to his mini-satellite dish. For a little while he just sat there, staring up wistfully at the sky.

“Look at it, Gaz. We’ve only see what’s come to _us_ from up there. Don’t you wanna just fly up there and see it all?”

Gaz, who had come out onto the patio to eat a late-night hot dog and squeeze In a quick game, gave him a passive grunt in reply. Hopping off her chair, she sauntered back into the house, fighting off hordes of vampire pigs and shadow hogs as she went.

Dib turned back to the sky, lost in its vast beauty, wondering what else could possibly be out there. Maybe the Irkens were a race of horrible, vindictive, parasitic little cretins, but surely there had to be others. Others whose exploration of the universe didn’t stem from their aspirations of conquest and subjection, but from their pursuit of knowledge and curiosity, the desire to explore other worlds simply for the sheer wonder of it. If only there was a way for him to find out…

Well, they say that when you wish upon on a star, it might come true. And while it turned out _not_ to be a star Dib was looking at, he got what he desired, nonetheless, only a few seconds later.

As he stared at one particularly bright star, it suddenly began to glow brighter, moving downward across the sky and hurling towards the earth… specifically his back yard. A blinding, white light illuminated the entire street just before it crashed thunderously onto his lawn, blowing him back with its sheer force.

As he picked himself up and crept towards the edge of the roof, his eyes widened at the sight of the badly damaged alien spaceship surrounded by flames embedded in the earth below him.

February 28 th

“Hmm… maybe I can patch this part up here with the new chrome alloy dad just invented. But he probably won’t let me use any of his equipment… not after that _last_ time.” Dib shuddered at the haunting memory which is simply _much_ too horrifying to reveal here.

He sat at the lunch table, head down, eyes narrowed in concentration as he poured over the schematics of Tak’s ship he’d drawn up the night before, once in a while deflecting a flying meatball or gunk-covered spoon launched his way. His sister, having had her fill of his even more-persistent-than-usual ramblings long ago, had picked up her lunch tray and left, saying she’d much rather finish her lunch in the girl’s bathroom than suffer through one more syllable. Just as he was taking a sip of soda and trying to calculate the capacity of the fuel tanks, wondering what kind of fuel they even _took_ , a shadow fell over him. A shadow with three pig-tails.

“Nyah!” Dib flinched, ready to throw up his lunch tray in defense at a second‘s notice. The girl standing there backed away abruptly.

“Whoa! Hey, sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you!” She took a step closer to him, but Dib flinched again, glaring suspiciously at the tray she was holding. She looked at it and set it down quickly. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna dump food on you again. I promise.”

After an awkward moment of silence, the girl finally asked very timidly, “C-can I sit down?” The suspicious look never left Dib’s face, but after a second he scooted over and let her slide in next to him. They both sat there with their eyes cast downward, neither one having the slightest idea what to say.

“So, um… what’cha looking at?” the girl asked, glancing curiously at the plans Dib was trying to cover up with his arms.

“Oh, nothing. It’s um… this model spaceship I’m building.”

“Oh. Can I see it?”

“Um, I’d rather you didn’t,” he said, rolling them up and tucking them out of sight.

“Oh. Okay.”

Another awkward silence.

Dib shot her a somewhat impatient sideways glance. “Is there, uh… something you wanted?”

“Uh…” the girl fumbled her words, looking intently down at the pile of baked beans on her tray, picking at them with her fork but not eating any. “Well, kind of. I uh… I just wanted to know how you were doing.”

“Huh?” Dib certainly hadn’t been expecting _that_. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I thought… I thought you might be sort of upset.”

Dib was getting more and more confused. “About what?”

“Um… I, uh… I…” she trailed off in a whisper, her face turning a deep shade of red. She looked so uncomfortable and pitiful that Dib felt it was his humanitarian duty to change the subject.

“So… your name’s Gretchen, right?”

She visibly jumped as he said her name, looking like someone had just dropped an ice cube down the back of her dress. “Y-yeah. How’d you know?”

Dib gave her a funny look. “We’re in the same class.”

“Oh. Yeah. Well it’s just… I didn’t know if you knew it. I mean, I sit all the way in the back of the room and everything.”

Dib shook his head. “No, I knew.”

It appeared they’d hit another brick wall. This wasn’t going at all like how Gretchen had planned—not that she’d really _planned_ it, per se, but when she walked into the cafeteria it had seemed like a perfect opportunity. H is sister was gone, he was sitting there by himself with an empty seat next to him, and on top of that it had been days since _SHE_ had disappeared, seemingly without a trace. How could she _not_ go and try to talk to him? Gathering up every ounce of courage housed within her tiny frame, knees shaking and mouth horribly dry, she’d made that hundred-mile long trek across the room, each step seeming to take an eternity, and now here she was, somehow miraculously sitting just inches away from the boy she’d had a hopeless crush on since the first time she’d ever laid eyes on him.

It had been the first day of the new skool year. All the kids had been asked to come up to the front of the class and share what they’d done over summer vacation. She’d slunk up next to the teacher’s desk, feeling everyone’s leering eyes crawling over her back, and turned to face her classmates. Shaking and positive everyone in the room was staring at her massive braces, she’d tried her best to relate the details of her trip to McSalty’s Wide World of Sea Mammals and Alligator Petting Zoo. She’d started off okay, but then sure enough the kids began to giggle, noticing her funny lisp. By the time she sank back down in her chair a few minutes later, the entire class was pointing at her, chanting such clever nicknames as ‘Horse teeth!’ and ‘Metal head!’ All except for one lone boy. He sat with his back to all of the cruel, braying laughter, pretending to look out the window but glaring at them all contemptibly out the corner of his eye.

“Very nice, uh… Gretchen,” their new teacher, Ms. Bitters, said in a most unconvincing voice, not even attempting to quiet the other students. Like a cobra striking, she whipped her finger in the boy’s direction. “You! You’re next, uh…”

“Dib,” the scythe-haired boy answered. Standing up, his trench coat billowing out slightly as he turned, he walked to the front of the room with his head held high. As Gretchen watched him, he fixed his eyes on her, and for just a second--one, wonderful, perfect second--he smiled at her. _Ignore them all,_ that smile seemed to say.

Dib’s own account of his summer vacation had gone just as disastrously as hers, probably more so. But as he finished up his story about attending ‘Camp Spooky’ and seeing the infamous Lake Spooky Monster tip over some unfortunate boater’s million dollar yacht, the kids all laughing and pointing at him like brain-dead seals, he’d turned to her a final time and sent her another tiny smile before returning to his seat. And in that one, brief moment they’d shared, she knew she’d give anything to see him smile at her like that again.

Over half the skool year, she’d tried and failed several times to muster up the nerve to go up and talk to him, but something always held her back… namely herself. She tried to tell herself that she was alright, that she was a good person, one worth knowing, one who was worthy of being friends with a cool, confident boy like Dib Membrane.

This Valentine’s Day she had finally _, finally_ , taken a chance, pooled all her courage and done what she’d never dreamed she could do!

And had gotten utterly, horribly, disastrously shot down, like a UFO over Roswell.

“… in your teeth.”

“What?” Gretchen looked up frantically as Dib’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

“You’ve got some broccoli stuck in your teeth,” he repeated, tilting his head at her tray oddly. “Were you even eating broccoli?”

“Huh? Uh!” Gretchen immediately began scraping at her teeth with her fingernail. _No oh no oh no, he’s looking at my braces! Please, don’t let him look at them, please!_ She grabbed a napkin and held it up to her face, trying to hide behind it.

“Wait, it’s right here,” Dib said, blowing on a spoon and shining it on his shirt. “Right here.” He held it up to her mouth, and she spotted the offending greenery in it’s silvery, concave surface.

“Thanks,” she mumbled, picking it out. ‘I _hate_ these stupid braces. Stuff’s always getting caught in them.”

Dib nodded. “I know what you mean. I can’t stand having to wear these glasses all the time. Especially when I used to set them down and couldn’t find them. Dad got sick of buying me new ones, so he tried this experimental thing with implants and cybernetics… there was a problem in the lab…then this explosion… almost wiped out the whole city, and… well, let’s just say I hardly ever take these off anymore. “

Gretchen hesitated, a hint of pink creeping into her cheeks. “Actually, I’ve always really liked your glasses.”

Dib blinked in surprise. “Really? _My_ glasses?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m actually surprised anyone ever even noticed them,” he replied, looking just the tiniest bit embarrassed himself for the first time since they’d begun talking. He rubbed his neck tensely and continued. “Well, don’t worry about your braces. They’re um… not really so bad.” This didn’t really seem like much of a compliment, so he added: “And anyway, once you get them off you’ll have a really nice smile, I’ll bet.”

This seemed much better, as she looked up at him gratefully.

“So…” Dib began, trying to come up with some topic of small talk to discuss. “How’re your baked beans?”

Gretchen held up a spoonful, the brown, membranous gel they were slathered in sticking to the tray like a tentacle. “Beans? I thought they were squirrel brains baked in dookie,” she said with a giggle.

Dib laughed. “I dunno, that sounds a little too sophisticated for _this_ cafeteria.”

Gretchen giggled again, and the two of them sat there laughing together for the next few minutes, making fun of the skool cuisine and attempting to gross each-other out.

After they got themselves back under control a bit, Gretchen blurted out, “It’s nice seeing you laugh, Dib. The only time I ever saw you laugh like that was when you were taking to--” She cut herself off, her hand flying to her mouth.

Dib gave her a puzzled look. “What was that?”

“I, uh… Well, what I meant was it’s just nice to see you’re not sad.”

Dib‘s expression of puzzlement deepened. “Sad? Why would I be sad?”

“Cause…” Gretchen said in a very quiet voice. “That new girl is gone.”

“What? Tak?” Dib asked, taking a sip of his soda.

“Yeah. She… I mean, you and her… she was your girlfriend, wasn’t she?”

Dib did a spit-take and sat there coughing for a few seconds. “What!? No! It wasn’t like that at all!”  
  


Gretchen‘s heart pounded. “It… it wasn’t?”

“No. I mean, I thought she was nice at first, and we talked once, but that’s it.” Dib rolled his eyes. “People around here are such gossips. I don‘t know why everyone at this skool jumps to such weird conclusions.”

A small gleam of hope ignited in Gretchen‘s chest. “So then, you guys weren’t friends?”

Dib shook his head. “No. I thought maybe she wanted to be my friend, but it turns out she was just another lying jerk, just like Zim,” he said with thinly veiled contempt.

Gretchen looked uncertain. “It kinda sounds like you miss her.”

Dib let out a tiny snort. “Believe me, I don’t. At all. In fact, I hope she’s gone for good--although it _was_ fun watching her beat up Zim all those times.” He smiled at the pleasant memory, then gave a tired sigh. “It’s not that I miss _Tak_ , particularly, it’s just… it was nice having someone listen to me for once, y’know? It felt good that someone actually _believed_ me for a change. You can only listen to everyone laughing at you so many times before you just feel like giving up.”

Gretchen couldn't believe what she was hearing. She’d never dreamed Dib worried about these sorts of things. He always seemed so cool to her, so unfazed by everyone else around him and all the mean, heartless things they said. “Gee, Dib,” she said sympathetically, “I didn’t know. I mean, you’re always alone, and it never seems to bother you when the other kids tease you.”

He offered her a half-hearted smile. “I guess I’m pretty good at hiding it. And maybe it never really bothered me till I thought I had a shot at having a real friend. _That’s_ what I miss. Having that hope, I guess.”

Gretchen swallowed hard. “Well, you know… maybe there’s someone _else_ who’d want to be your friend… for real.”

Dib snorted again. “Tch. Not likely. Tak was the first person who was _ever_ nice to me at this dumb skool, and she was just… Huh? Gretchen? What‘s wrong?” He was shocked to see tears brimming in her eyes. “Gretchen?”

Before he could react, Gretchen slammed her hands down on the table and stormed off, trying to hide the tears streaking down her face. Gretchen?! Hey, _Gretchen!_ ” he called to her, but she didn’t even look back. Dib held a hand to his head, utterly stupefied. “Man, what is _wrong_ with that girl?!”

***

“I don’t understand it! First she acts like she’s mad at me, then she sits down and starts talking to me out of the blue, and now she acts like she hates me! I don’t get it! What did I do? Is she just _crazy?_ Geez, just what _is_ it with all these crazy girls lately?!” Dib paced back and forth across the living room with his hands behind his back, his brow drawn in deep frustration. He’d been trying all day to come up with some explanation for the scene back at the lunch table, but so far had only succeeded in confusing himself even more that he already was. “Seriously, I just don’t get it!”

Gaz popped her head out of the kitchen. “Hey, Dib! Get in here and get this stupid meat of yours out of the fridge! I want to put my soda in here!”

Dib lifted an inquisitive eyebrow and walked into the kitchen. “What meat?”

Gaz pointed to a pile of most-likely rancid meat festering in the back of the refrigerator. “Hurry up before it gets all maggoty.”

Dib pulled it out, making a face. It smelled pretty bad; probably a couple weeks old, at least. He remembered taking a slab to skool awhile ago and munching on it during recess, but otherwise he hadn’t noticed it. And now that he looked at it, it was a pretty big stack. Funny he hadn’t remembered it all this time. “Guess I forgot this was in here. Where’d I get all this anyway?”

“You brought it home on Valentine’s Day, remember?”

Dib furrowed his brow in thought. “Oh yeah, now that you mention it. I guess I did.”

Gaz rolled her eyes at her brother’s hopeless stupidity. “Yeah, I remember wondering where _you_ got so many Valentine’s meat slabs from.” she chuckled in her flinty, Gaz-like way and left, popping open a soda can. Dib stood there for several minutes, a slab of meat in his hand, the gears in his head grinding so hard it was amazing sparks didn’t come flying out his ears. _Where_ did _I get--?_

Like a bolt of lightening out of the clear blue sky, it hit him. “Gretchen!”

He held up the piece of meat, his jaw hanging open. It had been Gretchen. _She_ had given him all this meat for Valentine’s Day! And now that his brain was functioning again, the memory of that February 14  th  morning came flooding back…

He remembered when Tak had arrived out of nowhere, showing up in her flashy jet, raining free wieners down from the heavens, and basically dazzling everyone in class with her sparkling entrance… but just before that…

“Oh, no…” Dib moaned, shaking his head in disbelief. “No, how could I have…? Oh, man…”

_Tak was the first person who was ever nice to me at this dumb skool_.

Those were the words he’d said earlier. But it _hadn’t_ been Tak. It had been Gretchen. The quiet, pig-tailed, braces-wearing girl at the back of the room. She’d given him every single piece of Valentine’s meat she had before Tak had showed up that day and totally wowed everyone, effectively stealing whatever tiny crackle of thunder Gretchen had. She’d been trying to let him know how she felt in her own shy, quiet way, by showing him the _only_ kindness any of his classmates had ever shown him and one that was genuine. After all, Gretchen had no ulterior motives, no reason to _pretend_ to like him _._ On top of that, they‘d been going to skool together for a while now; she was more than aware of his “creepy“ reputation, of all the things everyone said about him. But despite that, somehow none of that had mattered to her. She apparently liked him, plain and simple… and he hadn‘t noticed at all. Hadn’t even thanked her for her Valentine’s gift.

Dib let out a sudden, horrified gasp, the realization sinking in even further: _Oh, no! She must’ve been watching that day! The day after Valentine’s Day when I was talking with Tak,_ _I remember_ _she was sitting there across the playground. She must’ve seen me offering_ _Tak_ _that piece of Valentine’s meat… the one that_ she gave me! _I was just trying to be nice and make Tak feel welcome, but Gretchen must’ve thought--!_

“Ohhh…” Dib suddenly felt sick to his stomach, a horrible knot of guilt threatening to send his half-digested lunch back up. All the sudden everything made sense. The lunch tray Gretchen had dumped on him; why she’d seemed so angry at him; why she’d tried to talk to him earlier today, asking him about Tak, then storming away in angry tears when he _still_ just couldn’t get it through his big, frustratingly thick head! And yes, in this case Dib made an exception to call his own head big, feeling he kind of deserved it just this once.

Dib gripped the piece of meat in his hands, even though it was honestly kind of old and gross, setting his features in determination. Maybe he’d messed up. A lot. Oh MAN had he messed up. But if there was one thing he always did without fail it was try to make things right, and he now he knew just what he had to do.

Snapping up his backpack, he raced out the front door, shouting a quick, “See ya!” to Gaz as he left.

“Mmm,” she grunted, not even looking up.

March 1 st

It was another happy, sunny, fun-filled, lollipops-and-puppies-type of day over at the reject table.

Gretchen sat alone, poking at a sloppy joe that was 99.9% slop, her eyes sweeping over the surrounding tables filled with noisy, laughing kids, all having a good time eating and flinging food across the room. Keef and the others sat at the far end of the table, but even though they’d asked her to join them she felt like being alone. On the movie screen in her mind, the events of the previous day kept playing over and over again, stuck running on an endlessly dismal loop. She’d finally done it. She’d finally sat down and actually talked to Dib. They’d had an entire conversation, had even laughed together at one point. He’d said her name over and over, her _name_ had actually come out of his mouth. And she’d finally learned his real feelings towards Tak… basically that he had none. So why? WHY had she blown it just when things were going so well? She hadn’t meant to. She was just the unfortunate type of girl who wore her emotions on her sleeve. And when Dib had said that no one else had ever been nice to him before, it was like a sliver of glass in her heart. She’d lost it before she even realized it, then had stomped away in a huff, mad at him, and mad at herself. _Always_ at her self. For never having the guts to say what she really felt, for never going for what she wanted and always caving in to her emotions. Dib probably thought she was psycho now. He’d probably never talk to her again. He…

“Uh… hi, Gretchen.”

A gasp escaped her as her head snapped up, her eyes meeting with a pair of soft, amber colored ones. Dib smiled at her nervously. “Mind if I sit down?” Gretchen silently slid over and he lowered himself onto the seat next to her. She noticed that he had something tucked beneath his jacket.

“Gretchen, I’m, um… not really good at this sort of thing, but, uh… here!” He pulled out a small heart-shaped box and thrust it into her hands. She stared at him, then looked down at the box. It was red and sparkly, and when she opened it she discovered more than a dozen pieces of chocolate inside, decorated with stripes and candy hearts. She also found a little pink card with ‘To: Gretchen From: Dib’ written on it.

He hurried on. “I know it’s a little late… okay, _really_ late… but I wanted to give you something for Valentine’s Day, and well, I heard that they used to give out candy and cards and stuff a long time ago. I had a pretty hard time finding it. Hadda go to a bunch of antique stores just to find the box, but I thought you’d like it more than some old Valentine’s meat that was on sale. I just wanted to do something to, y’know, say thanks… something I should’ve said weeks ago.” He’d been staring at his shoes this whole time, but now he looked up to see Gretchen’s reaction. He nearly panicked when he once again saw tears in her eyes, but this time her mouth was curled up in a smile.

“Thank you so much, Dib,” she breathed, her voice barely above a whisper. “I love it.”

Dib fidgeted uneasily; he really wasn’t used to this sort of thing (like most twelve year old boys, to be fair). “I’m really sorry, Gretchen. I didn’t even notice when you gave me all those Valentines. It’s just…” he trailed off, searching for the right words.

Gretchen nodded, a touch of sadness creeping into her eyes. “It’s okay, Dib. I know. It’s cause Tak came along.”

“Well, kind of…” Dib confessed, feeling that lump of guilt in his gut once again. “I mean, you saw what happened… A huge jet landing, a freaky cat, flashing lights, thousands of crawling wieners, Zim screaming hysterically… You gotta admit, it was a pretty memorable entrance.” He rolled his eyes. “I think Irkens just have an instinctual flair for the overly dramatic.”.

Gretchen raised an eyebrow. “What was that last part?”

Dib shook his head. “Never mind. Anyway, I just got caught up in the flurry of it all, and well, I know it’s not a very good excuse, but still… I’m really sorry.”

“Me too.” Gretchen sniffled, trying not to tear up again. “About the lunch tray thing.”

“It’s okay.” Dib smiled. “You don’t have to apologize.”

“Yeah I do. That was going way too far.”

“Well, maybe a little…” he agreed. “I just couldn’t figure out why you were so _mad_ at me! I mean we never even talked before, and then you just came out of nowhere and nailed me.“

“I know.“ Gretchen lowered her head. “I was just upset.“

“I guess I would be too,“ Dib replied, trying to make her feel better. “Still, I didn’t even know that you liked me. I didn’t think _anyone_ did.” He hesitated before adding, “I mean, I’ve seen you with the other kids before… laughing at me.”

Now it was Gretchen’s turn to feel guilty. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly before turning to him. “I’m really sorry, Dib. I guess I can’t blame you entirely for being so dumb.” She chuckled apologetically. “It’s no wonder you didn’t realize how I felt when I’ve just been another hyena in the crowd all this time. But I… I never meant any of it. I was just going along with everyone else, cause...” She looked at him now, deciding to finally bare her soul. “You’re so cool, so confident. You never let anyone bother you with all the horrible things they say. You just shrug it off like it’s nothing. It’s one of the things I really admire about you. But… I’m not that strong, and I’m definitely not that cool or confident. I get made fun of all the time, and I _hate_ it,” she said forcibly, tearing up again. “I’m always afraid if I don’t join in, they’ll just make fun of me more, cause I’m so ugly and my teeth are so gross. But I never meant it. I think you’re really great, and I‘m really sorry if I ever hurt you.” She finally finished rambling and stared down at the floor once again.

“You’re not ugly.”

“Huh?” Gretchen said with a sniffle, looking back up at the dark-haired boy next to her.

“I said you’re not ugly,” Dib replied, handing her a napkin which she used to blow her nose. Yet another few seconds of awkward passed by until he added, “And it’s okay. I forgive you, if you forgive me.”

Dib had never really noticed before, but in that next moment, as a huge smile lit up her face, he found himself thinking for the first time that Gretchen actually _was_ rather cute. He offered her his own smile in return.

“Hey, maybe we could hang out from now on,” he suggested. “I mean, if you want to. You could come over to my house and I could show you all my paranormal research! I’ve got some really cool Bigfoot fur samples… That is, if you’re into that sort of thing.”

“Of course.” Gretchen giggled. “I always love listening to you when you talk about that stuff in class.”

Dib blinked in surprise. “Really?”

“Yeah. I’ve always kind of wondered about those things. Like the time you were talking about zombies. Is there _really_ an army of them that wanders around the mall at night?”

“Are you kidding? I’ve got the videotape to prove it! I can show you, if you want.“

“I’d like that,“ Gretchen replied shyly.

Dib felt an unexpected flutter of excitement in his chest. He could hardly believe it… someone actually _wanted_ to see his paranormal findings! That had _never_ happened to him once in his entire life! At least not for real. “Great! So, how about today after skool?”

Gretchen stood up with her tray as the lunch bell rang, flashing her metal clad teeth in all their glory. “I can’t wait!”

As he watched her walk away, Dib couldn’t stop himself from grinning. Finally, for the first time he had a willing audience, one that actually wanted to hear what he had to say. And mall-zombies were just the beginning! His mind was already racing, going over all the incredible things he could show this girl... this Gretchen... all the amazing things he could open her eyes to. Where to even begin! Maybe she’d even _believe_ him about some of it. Maybe _all_ of it! He didn’t want to get his hopes up _too_ high--he was the cautious type by nature, especially now after what had happened recently, but it was at least a possibility. Who knew? Maybe she would even come to believe him about the resident ‘green’ kid in class. And maybe, once he got it fixed up a bit, he could even let her see his _latest_ acquisition. He could just imagine the look on her face.

His mind filling up with possibilities, Dib couldn’t have been more hyped. Still, it wasn’t _just_ the thought of having someone believe him that was making his heart pound so hard, although it _was_ a huge factor. It was the knowledge that--at last--he had someone in his life who truly, genuinely _cared_ about him, something he honestly couldn’t say he’d ever experienced before. It was… a pretty nice feeling, actually.

It almost seemed impossible, and he could hardly believe it was true, but for the first time in his often cruel, lonely, frustrating life, Dib realized he had found a real friend.

Still smiling, he gathered up his things and headed for class.

**Author's Note:**

> Extra note before the actual notes: Just FYI, I wrote this fanfic many, many years ago, and I honestly have no idea if it's good or bad or whatever, but since it was Valentine's Day a few days ago (yeah, sorry I'm late ^^;) I suddenly remembered this fic existed and felt this was as good a time as any to post it somewhere, finally. So here it is; I can only hope it's not too cringe-worthy. Okay, now onto the notes...
> 
> Ah, so much awkwardness ^-^
> 
> Well, there you have it--basically all (or at least most of) the reasons I’m so in favor of DibxGretchen or DAGR. For years I’ve wanted to write a DAGR fanfic to further illustrate my viewpoint to those who might not fully understand where I‘m coming from when I ship these two, but I couldn’t figure out how or what I wanted to say. Then one day while driving home, out of absolutely nowhere it hit me... all the posts and replies I‘ve made on the topic, all the discussions I’ve had with DAGR supporters and non-supporters alike, all my arguments for why I’m so in love with this pairing... it was all right there. All I needed to do was put it into story form. So I went home and pounded out this entire thing in one evening, like it had just been there all along waiting for me to put it into words. It’s a bit fluffy I guess, but I don’t think I made anyone act too OOC, and I can only hope it once and for all explains why I’m so pro DAGR and even a little why I’m so anti-Tak (though I think I was more than fair to her in this fic, considering, and I could have treated her SO much worse, so please no death threats from Tak lovers, okay?). 
> 
> I hope you’ve enjoyed it and thanks for reading!


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